Nick Saban explains how Bryce Young helped Alabama control possession

Nick Saban continues to compliment Bryce Young as his young quarterback grows before his eyes each and every game.

In his press conference following the Crimson Tide’s 52-24 victory over Tennessee, the Alabama head coach was especially complimentary of Young’s consistency and control.

“Bryce really played well in the game,” Saban said. “I think he got frustrated a couple times, but, he was very consistent.

“I thought his consistency and performance was really really good. I thought he controlled the game, especially on third down,” he continued. “We struggled to run the ball early, which kind of put us in some third and not so great manageable situations and we converted on those. That was really important early in the game, especially on the first drive.”

Young finished the night 31-of-43 for 371 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while adding another 42 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

Nick Saban on Alabama pass protection issues

Recent Alabama offenses have been synonymous with a lights-out passing game. This year, they had to replace most of their offense, and the pass protection is not quite as elite as it has been over the last few seasons. 

The Alabama offensive line certainly has not been terrible this year, but there have been some growing pains as the Crimson Tide replace a few high-level draft picks.

“I think that we gotta fundamentally get better sometimes at just blocking games,” Saban told the media on Monday. “That’s been one of the issues. So we [get] a solid pocket.”

The offensive line is allowing 2.25 sacks per game, which is 71st in the nation. They’ve given up 18 total sacks. Further, Young is not the most mobile of quarterbacks; the redshirt freshman has 38 carries for 40 yards and two rushing touchdowns this season. The combination is less than ideal.

But Nick Saban doesn’t believe all of Alabama’s pass protection issues are a result of problems with the young offensive line.

“We’ve gotta get better at recognizing protections,” Saban added. “I think in the last game we made several mistakes [where] we have a protection called, and we think they’re going to pressure us, and we don’t get in the correct protection. So that’s not really an offensive line issue. That means we are going to leave somebody that we can’t block, and we have to throw the ball hot.”

Alabama is currently averaging 323 passing yards per game, which is second in the SEC only behind Air Raid offense-running Mississippi State. That number will surely fluctuate before the season ends, but 323 yards per game would be the fewest the Crimson Tide have posted since 2017. 

Quarterback Bryce Young’s average release time on the season is 2.89 seconds, per PFF. That ranks 109th in the country. To Nick Saban’s point, the quarterback will need to work on getting the ball out quicker if the Alabama passing game wants to continue to improve.